n. a genus of plants comprising the hoary alyssum.
Syn. -- genus Berteroa. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ From the root of bear to produce, like birth nativity. See Birth. ] [ Also written birth. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Naut.) (a) Convenient sea room. (b) A room in which a number of the officers or ship's company mess and reside. (c) The place where a ship lies when she is at anchor, or at a wharf. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An allotted place; an appointment; situation or employment. “He has a good berth.” Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A place in a ship to sleep in; a long box or shelf on the side of a cabin or stateroom, or of a railway car, for sleeping in. [ 1913 Webster ]

Berth deck, the deck next below the lower gun deck. Ham. Nav. Encyc. --
To give (the land or any object)
a wide berth, to keep at a distance from it. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Berthed p. pr. & vb. n. Berthing. ] 1. To give an anchorage to, or a place to lie at; to place in a berth; as, she was berthed stem to stern with the Adelaide. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To allot or furnish berths to, on shipboard; as, to berth a ship's company. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. berthe, fr. Berthe, a woman's name. ] A kind of collar or cape worn by ladies. [ 1913 Webster ]

Big Bertha n. a large cannon used by the German army during World War I. [ PJC ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A place for mooring vessels in a dock or harbor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Berthier, a French naturalist. ] (Min.) A double sulphide of antimony and iron, of a dark steel-gray color. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) The planking outside of a vessel, above the sheer strake. Smyth. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ After Alphonse Bertillon, French anthropologist. ] A system for the identification of persons by a physical description based upon anthropometric measurements, notes of markings, deformities, color, impression of thumb lines, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Corrupted fr. L. pyrethrum, Gr. &unr_; a hot spicy plant, fr. &unr_; fire. ] (Bot.) Pellitory of Spain (Anacyclus pyrethrum). [ 1913 Webster ]